Tommy and Tuppance are some of my favorites! I love how they look at the mystery - very different from Miss Marple and Poirot- and how they work together even when apart. I also love how they grow book to book - I'm only 3 books in.
Just finished reading all of the Tommy and Tuppence novels once again and I loved them. I am now immersed in the world of Jane Marple, then on to the stand alone novels.
6:20 OMG I had the exact same experience. I'm from a country where there are 'loadsheddings' and I was reading it by candlelight upstairs alone while everyone else was downstairs. As I came to the end and the revelation was dawning upon me I became aware of my surroundings. That was the first and only time I had cold sweat running down the back of my neck and the hair there being raised at the same time. Somehow I didn't guess the culprit of this one till the end. I read more than 40 Agatha Christie novels in my teens about a decade ago and this one stands out the most. I'm listening to audiobooks of the rest right now.
I love Tommy and Tuppence, they are so much fun. I love all the books, because you grow up with them. Though, I read Partners in Crime before I read The Secret Adversary (This may have a different name in the states, strange because none of the other Tommy and Tuppence have a different name.) I watched the tv series and fell in love with them, (Francesca Annis and James Warwick played Tuppence and Tommy.) What is fun in that series, especially if you like GAD novels, is that Agatha used a different detective from each of her fellow Detection Club associates books. I have been reading a lot of them now and it is even more fun as you say, oh, now I understand that, because you now know who the detectives they are trying to copy are. I enjoy all the novels; I think they are adorable.
Sppoky and chilling are the words to describe T&T 4 aka BTPOMT!! Recently I reread it, while at the same time listening to the audiobook. It was... THRILLING!!!Especially the drip drip unraveling of the mystery!
@@lilsvintageworld You're very welcome. My grandma used to read Agatha Christie books all the time, and now she is in a care facility with dementia. Due to covid, she isn't allowed visitors. Listening to Agatha Christie audiobooks and looking through your channel from time to time helps me feel closer to her again. Thank you!
I absolutely agree with you on every point about Tommy and tuppence! I in general don’t really care as much by far for Agatha‘s early work because it’s so rah rah young bright things of the 1920s! But I do like Tommy and tuppence - and I think by the pricking of my thumbs is the best one and is like you say totally spooky! It’s in my top 10 of all of her books and I first read it as a teen and had to keep the light on all night! Lol! Good video!
My favourite is 'By the pricking of my thumbs'. The thing about the dead child behind the fireplace was very scary, I also find very interesting the Lancaster-York story.
I agree with you 100 % on your assessment of Agatha Christie's five " Tommy & Tuppence " novels !! I like the shared universe that she employed in her books !! The character of " Mrs. Lancaster " makes an appearance in other Christie novels . She appears in both " The Pale Horse , " and " The Sleeping Murder !! " Many characters from other books appear again in other novels !!
By the Pricking of My Thumbs is one of my favorite Christie novels. If I were to think of the 5 that I reread most often, it would be on the list. My next favorite is probably Partners in Crime and then Postern of Fate. I've seen some of the bad reviews, but I think it's an interesting study in age, memory, forgetfulness, and curiosity. Thank you for these Christie-centric videos. I really enjoy them!
I didn't know until recently, as I started my journey into Agatha's writing, that By The Pricking Of My Thumbs was a Tommy & Tuppence work. I learned about it first through a tv adaptation as part of the Marple series. I was surprised to find out how many of the stories were not originally featuring Jane (like Murder is Easy, The Pale Horse, etc)...still great episodes, but now I really want to read them and see how they really go.
The adaptation of By the pricking of my thumbs is actually not too different from the book and I think they did really well with the charictors of Tommy and Tuppence.
I have not as of yet, just finnishing off all her Agatha Christie ones first, then I will read these ones but I will probably do a video on it in the future :)
Thanks for reviewing this small series. I've just started reading the Tommy & Tuppence books, but wanted to know what you thought of the 2015 Partners in Crime BBC series. Could you do a quick overview of some adaptations?
I personally hated them!! And I’m generally a huge fan. I prefer the Francesca Annis ones, although they are a little too bright. If they can get it balanced, not tooo dark but not too bright, I’d be in heaven!
When I read/listened to Secret Adversary in January, I loved it so much that I'm getting ready to listen to Partners in Crime 😃 And I've started watching the 80s tv series with my mom and it is great! Much closer to the books I think (Secret Adversary at least). I think you would enjoy it 😃
Lil's Vintage World oh good! yea I liked the new one because it was my first introduction to Tommy and Tuppence but after reading the book and seeing the older show, I definitely like that better (I still really enjoy the actors for the new one, I just thought so many of the changes were totally unnecessary).
Bonjour ! I just discover your videos. They are very interesting for me as I want to read more and more in English...so I subscribe ! A little note from France Eleonore
Here's just a suggestion for videos maybe some individual miss marple and poriot reviews like you did in this video with by the pricking of my thumbs :)
Just thought I'd let you know that ,inspired by this review, I bought the five T&T books (the same editions as you had;but that was hardly surprising,as I ordered them in one go off Amazon.) My opinions are generally the same as yours.I thought they mostly improved as they went along. "Secret Adversary" read like a cross between Buchan and Sapper(Bulldog Drummond).All 'dastardly foreign jonnies up to no good',but not particularly well constructed.Fair play - it was only her second novel;but I felt that,although working itself out alright in the end,it basically went from moment to moment and felt every bit of its almost 100 years of age. "Partners" was an acceptable short story collection,but AC did a lot better ones than this.Most of the stories were a little on the thin side;I loved the final chapter! "N or M" was quite fun;quite exciting and funny;and the identity of M was very well hidden,I thought. "Thumbs" was the only one I'd read before;and is definitely my favourite.Perhaps one too many red-herrings? But it's brilliantly atmospheric. I went into "Postern" expecting the worst.I got half-way through,and thought "When does it get awful,then?" To be fair,it does become very repetitive and rambling in the final 100 pages (and the mystery is basically solved at the mid-point of the book) but I thought that the story concept was so wonderfully strong (and the elderly depiction of T&T so endearing) that it carried me through most of the book very comfortably indeed. Generally,though,my opinions reflected yours :) I'm getting "The Complete Miss Marple Short Stories:Folio Illustrated and Limited Edition" for Christmas - looking forward to it. I think I asked this before,but is there any chance of your doing a 'Short Stories' video sometime? Anyway,apologies for this epic comment - but I thought you'd like to know how your T&T video inspired me :)
I reread the Tommy & Tuppence novels at the end of last year / beginning of 2016. I actually enjoyed them more this time than when I read them 20-30 years ago. Perhaps because I am older? (haha). I agree that By the pricking of my thumbs is the best of the five books, with Partners in Crime my second favorite. Postern of fate was (as far as I know) the last book Agatha Christie wrote before she died. I think I mentioned before that I am rereading all of Agatha Christie. I began with the Miss Marple novels and short stories, then did Tommy & Tuppence and have now begun with the standalones. I am leaving Poirot for last because he is my favorite! Are you perhaps planning on doing a video or videos on the standalones sometime?
Yes, I will be doing a where to start and my fave standalone as well as introducing more Agatha Christie book reviews like I did with Mrs McGuinty's dead.,
I have a question...is it possible to read by the pricking of my thumb as a standalone? I can't really own every Agatha Christie book rn and i m not much interested in Tommy and tuppence except for this particular book.
sorry I'm a bit late responding... just wanted to say that when I read her autobiography, I understood 'The Secret Adversary' (not my most favorite T&P book either) better. Agatha and Archie fall violently in love, WWI happens, Agatha becomes a (very competent) nurse and goes from a fairly sheltered uppermiddleclass girl to assisting in operating rooms and cleaning up the blood and vomit of wounded and dying soldiers. Agatha and Archie decide to get married as soon as possible because it's very likely that Archie might die in war, and well, it's a very dramatic time. Then war ends, and Archie has problems finding a job, they have problems finding an affordable flat (you'll find echo's of this in some of her stories), food is still rationed and Agatha is pregnant. So they are really two young, intelligent, well-bred but penniless Young Things, willing to do anything, go anywhere. The world is their oyster, if only they had two shillings to rub together. Rather like Tommy and Tuppence in their first book. And not only T&P, either... There are several stories, I believe, where the protagonist is a young, wellbred-but-penniless woman is willing to do anything, go anywhere etc.etc. and falling in some adventure. Well, after Agatha had her baby, Archie gets the chance to assist some bloke in some job, for which he has to travel the world for six months and Agatha goes with him (her sister looks after their baby), so in the early twenties, Agatha and Archie travelled to, among other destinations, Hawaii... Archie tries to object to his boss bloke that he, Archie, doesn't know anything about the job he is supposed to do. "Well", his boss-bloke answered, "neither do I". Turns out that the man is a huge con who constantly bluffs his way in and out things. He then just hires, for a song, some 'secretary' who does know what to do and let that poor guy do all the work!So yes, I do think T&P is based for a great deal on young Archie and Agatha. An idealized Achie and Agatha, because Tommy is a strict one-woman-man, whose love for Tuppence never wavers, and there isn't a shy bone in Tuppence, while Agatha suffered from shyness her whole life.
Did you see the 2015 Partners in Crime mini-series? What did you think? I haven't read any Tommy and Tuppence yet(trying to read Secret Adversary this month) so I actually really enjoyed it and am sad that there won't be a series 2 but I have heard that many people who have read the books didn't like it much. I think I am going to read their books in order since there are so few and they do age as the books go along and the one I am most intrigued by is Postern of Fate because it is the only one that I haven't seen adapted or heard about an adaptation so it is the one I know the least about and that book message sounds chilling which will be great I think. I am also looking forward to reading By the Pricking of My Thumbs because the adaptation is a Marple episode so I really want to know what the story is like without her in it and how they changed it for the adaptation. Wonderful video as usual :)
Thank you, Yes the Tommy and Tuppence adaption from the bbc for me didn't quite hit the mark. There was quite a bit that they missed and changed and tbh I didn't really like the way they portrayed Tommy or Tuppence they seem so different in the books but it was nice for Tommy and Tuppence to have a tv show for once. The Miss Marple by the pricking of my thumbs tbh is actually quite good and you can see that they tried to stay as loyal as possible but of course they did have to change some things to allow miss marple to get involved, I also much prefer these actors portrayal of the characters of Tommy and Tuppence, they seem much more like them in the books.
I did really like that episode of Miss Marple so I am glad that they didn't change the story too much, and I really liked Tommy and Tuppence in that adaptation as well. Have you tried the 80s adaptation of Partners in Crime? I want to wait and watch it until after I've read the books but each episode adapts one of the short stories from the Partners in Crime book and Francesca Annis played Tuppence (I forget who played Tommy because I hadn't seen the actor before). But you may like that one better.
+Lil's Vintage World oh and I forgot there is a tv movie first that is an adaptation of Secret Adversary and then the show goes into Partners in Crime. :)
Secret Adversary is also my least favourite. I found the atmosphere of spies/espionage somewhat dated and very much of its time. The denouement (without spoilers!) seemed so ridiculous and out of synch with her other works, which, although far fetched, are about human psychology. Pricking of my Thumbs by far the best.
hmmmmm by the pricking of my thumbs was mediocre for me. not up to agatha's standards. postern of fate was one of the worst of her works, in my opinion. she was old, around or over 80, i think, when she was writing both of these, so perhaps she was not at the top of her game at that point...
Tommy and Tuppance are some of my favorites! I love how they look at the mystery - very different from Miss Marple and Poirot- and how they work together even when apart. I also love how they grow book to book - I'm only 3 books in.
I have a soft spot for Tommy and Tuppance.
Nicely done! I love Tommy & Tuppence!
Just finished reading all of the Tommy and Tuppence novels once again and I loved them. I am now immersed in the world of Jane Marple, then on to the stand alone novels.
Well there are some fab Marple ones to fall in love with
6:20 OMG I had the exact same experience. I'm from a country where there are 'loadsheddings' and I was reading it by candlelight upstairs alone while everyone else was downstairs. As I came to the end and the revelation was dawning upon me I became aware of my surroundings. That was the first and only time I had cold sweat running down the back of my neck and the hair there being raised at the same time. Somehow I didn't guess the culprit of this one till the end. I read more than 40 Agatha Christie novels in my teens about a decade ago and this one stands out the most. I'm listening to audiobooks of the rest right now.
Also the second half of the title 'something wicked this way comes' is so sinister just like the ending. 'Strength of a mad person' omg!
I love Tommy and Tuppence, they are so much fun. I love all the books, because you grow up with them. Though, I read Partners in Crime before I read The Secret Adversary (This may have a different name in the states, strange because none of the other Tommy and Tuppence have a different name.) I watched the tv series and fell in love with them, (Francesca Annis and James Warwick played Tuppence and Tommy.) What is fun in that series, especially if you like GAD novels, is that Agatha used a different detective from each of her fellow Detection Club associates books. I have been reading a lot of them now and it is even more fun as you say, oh, now I understand that, because you now know who the detectives they are trying to copy are. I enjoy all the novels; I think they are adorable.
Sppoky and chilling are the words to describe T&T 4 aka BTPOMT!! Recently I reread it, while at the same time listening to the audiobook. It was... THRILLING!!!Especially the drip drip unraveling of the mystery!
I love your channel. You make reading look so glamorous! I wish I also had an English accent. It makes you seem so sophisticated. :)
Oh thank you
@@lilsvintageworld You're very welcome. My grandma used to read Agatha Christie books all the time, and now she is in a care facility with dementia. Due to covid, she isn't allowed visitors. Listening to Agatha Christie audiobooks and looking through your channel from time to time helps me feel closer to her again. Thank you!
I only recently discovered Tommy and Tuppance through audiobooks here on UA-cam. Love discovering your channel.
Thank you very much!!
I absolutely agree with you on every point about Tommy and tuppence! I in general don’t really care as much by far for Agatha‘s early work because it’s so rah rah young bright things of the 1920s! But I do like Tommy and tuppence - and I think by the pricking of my thumbs is the best one and is like you say totally spooky! It’s in my top 10 of all of her books and I first read it as a teen and had to keep the light on all night! Lol! Good video!
My favourite is 'By the pricking of my thumbs'. The thing about the dead child behind the fireplace was very scary, I also find very interesting the Lancaster-York story.
oh very creepy story line, such a good book
I agree with you 100 % on your assessment of Agatha Christie's five " Tommy & Tuppence " novels !! I like the shared universe that she employed in her books !! The character of " Mrs. Lancaster " makes an appearance in other Christie novels . She appears in both " The Pale Horse , " and " The Sleeping Murder !! " Many characters from other books appear again in other novels !!
By the Pricking of My Thumbs is one of my favorite Christie novels. If I were to think of the 5 that I reread most often, it would be on the list. My next favorite is probably Partners in Crime and then Postern of Fate. I've seen some of the bad reviews, but I think it's an interesting study in age, memory, forgetfulness, and curiosity. Thank you for these Christie-centric videos. I really enjoy them!
Glad you like them and it is nice to see so many people interested in Tommy and Tuppence
Hello from Brazil 🇧🇷 I have just read the five books nas I agree, the fourth is the best!
I didn't know until recently, as I started my journey into Agatha's writing, that By The Pricking Of My Thumbs was a Tommy & Tuppence work. I learned about it first through a tv adaptation as part of the Marple series. I was surprised to find out how many of the stories were not originally featuring Jane (like Murder is Easy, The Pale Horse, etc)...still great episodes, but now I really want to read them and see how they really go.
The adaptation of By the pricking of my thumbs is actually not too different from the book and I think they did really well with the charictors of Tommy and Tuppence.
Have you read any of her "romance" novels under her pseudonym Mary Westmacott? I was curious what you thought about them. I'd watch a video on it 😊
I have not as of yet, just finnishing off all her Agatha Christie ones first, then I will read these ones but I will probably do a video on it in the future :)
Thanks for reviewing this small series. I've just started reading the Tommy & Tuppence books, but wanted to know what you thought of the 2015 Partners in Crime BBC series. Could you do a quick overview of some adaptations?
What a great video idea, thanks
I personally hated them!! And I’m generally a huge fan. I prefer the Francesca Annis ones, although they are a little too bright. If they can get it balanced, not tooo dark but not too bright, I’d be in heaven!
When I read/listened to Secret Adversary in January, I loved it so much that I'm getting ready to listen to Partners in Crime 😃 And I've started watching the 80s tv series with my mom and it is great! Much closer to the books I think (Secret Adversary at least). I think you would enjoy it 😃
I have the series on dvd and really enjoy it, i would reccomend this series over the most recent bbc one
Lil's Vintage World oh good! yea I liked the new one because it was my first introduction to Tommy and Tuppence but after reading the book and seeing the older show, I definitely like that better (I still really enjoy the actors for the new one, I just thought so many of the changes were totally unnecessary).
Bonjour !
I just discover your videos. They are very interesting for me as I want to read more and more in English...so I subscribe !
A little note from France
Eleonore
Hello!! Thank you so much I hope you enjoy my channel :) Also If you don't mind me saying you have a lovely name
Here's just a suggestion for videos maybe some individual miss marple and poriot reviews like you did in this video with by the pricking of my thumbs :)
There is actually a Poirot book review coming out very soon...it is like you read my mind haha
Just thought I'd let you know that ,inspired by this review, I bought the five T&T books (the same editions as you had;but that was hardly surprising,as I ordered them in one go off Amazon.) My opinions are generally the same as yours.I thought they mostly improved as they went along.
"Secret Adversary" read like a cross between Buchan and Sapper(Bulldog Drummond).All 'dastardly foreign jonnies up to no good',but not particularly well constructed.Fair play - it was only her second novel;but I felt that,although working itself out alright in the end,it basically went from moment to moment and felt every bit of its almost 100 years of age.
"Partners" was an acceptable short story collection,but AC did a lot better ones than this.Most of the stories were a little on the thin side;I loved the final chapter!
"N or M" was quite fun;quite exciting and funny;and the identity of M was very well hidden,I thought.
"Thumbs" was the only one I'd read before;and is definitely my favourite.Perhaps one too many red-herrings? But it's brilliantly atmospheric.
I went into "Postern" expecting the worst.I got half-way through,and thought "When does it get awful,then?" To be fair,it does become very repetitive and rambling in the final 100 pages (and the mystery is basically solved at the mid-point of the book) but I thought that the story concept was so wonderfully strong (and the elderly depiction of T&T so endearing) that it carried me through most of the book very comfortably indeed.
Generally,though,my opinions reflected yours :)
I'm getting "The Complete Miss Marple Short Stories:Folio Illustrated and Limited Edition" for Christmas - looking forward to it.
I think I asked this before,but is there any chance of your doing a 'Short Stories' video sometime?
Anyway,apologies for this epic comment - but I thought you'd like to know how your T&T video inspired me :)
Love this video!!😘
Thank you
I reread the Tommy & Tuppence novels at the end of last year / beginning of 2016. I actually enjoyed them more this time than when I read them 20-30 years ago. Perhaps because I am older? (haha). I agree that By the pricking of my thumbs is the best of the five books, with Partners in Crime my second favorite. Postern of fate was (as far as I know) the last book Agatha Christie wrote before she died. I think I mentioned before that I am rereading all of Agatha Christie. I began with the Miss Marple novels and short stories, then did Tommy & Tuppence and have now begun with the standalones. I am leaving Poirot for last because he is my favorite! Are you perhaps planning on doing a video or videos on the standalones sometime?
Yes, I will be doing a where to start and my fave standalone as well as introducing more Agatha Christie book reviews like I did with Mrs McGuinty's dead.,
Awesome!
I have a question...is it possible to read by the pricking of my thumb as a standalone? I can't really own every Agatha Christie book rn and i m not much interested in Tommy and tuppence except for this particular book.
sorry I'm a bit late responding... just wanted to say that when I read her autobiography, I understood 'The Secret Adversary' (not my most favorite T&P book either) better. Agatha and Archie fall violently in love, WWI happens, Agatha becomes a (very competent) nurse and goes from a fairly sheltered uppermiddleclass girl to assisting in operating rooms and cleaning up the blood and vomit of wounded and dying soldiers. Agatha and Archie decide to get married as soon as possible because it's very likely that Archie might die in war, and well, it's a very dramatic time. Then war ends, and Archie has problems finding a job, they have problems finding an affordable flat (you'll find echo's of this in some of her stories), food is still rationed and Agatha is pregnant. So they are really two young, intelligent, well-bred but penniless Young Things, willing to do anything, go anywhere. The world is their oyster, if only they had two shillings to rub together. Rather like Tommy and Tuppence in their first book. And not only T&P, either... There are several stories, I believe, where the protagonist is a young, wellbred-but-penniless woman is willing to do anything, go anywhere etc.etc. and falling in some adventure. Well, after Agatha had her baby, Archie gets the chance to assist some bloke in some job, for which he has to travel the world for six months and Agatha goes with him (her sister looks after their baby), so in the early twenties, Agatha and Archie travelled to, among other destinations, Hawaii...
Archie tries to object to his boss bloke that he, Archie, doesn't know anything about the job he is supposed to do. "Well", his boss-bloke answered, "neither do I". Turns out that the man is a huge con who constantly bluffs his way in and out things. He then just hires, for a song, some 'secretary' who does know what to do and let that poor guy do all the work!So yes, I do think T&P is based for a great deal on young Archie and Agatha. An idealized Achie and Agatha, because Tommy is a strict one-woman-man, whose love for Tuppence never wavers, and there isn't a shy bone in Tuppence, while Agatha suffered from shyness her whole life.
Did you see the 2015 Partners in Crime mini-series? What did you think? I haven't read any Tommy and Tuppence yet(trying to read Secret Adversary this month) so I actually really enjoyed it and am sad that there won't be a series 2 but I have heard that many people who have read the books didn't like it much. I think I am going to read their books in order since there are so few and they do age as the books go along and the one I am most intrigued by is Postern of Fate because it is the only one that I haven't seen adapted or heard about an adaptation so it is the one I know the least about and that book message sounds chilling which will be great I think. I am also looking forward to reading By the Pricking of My Thumbs because the adaptation is a Marple episode so I really want to know what the story is like without her in it and how they changed it for the adaptation. Wonderful video as usual :)
Thank you, Yes the Tommy and Tuppence adaption from the bbc for me didn't quite hit the mark. There was quite a bit that they missed and changed and tbh I didn't really like the way they portrayed Tommy or Tuppence they seem so different in the books but it was nice for Tommy and Tuppence to have a tv show for once. The Miss Marple by the pricking of my thumbs tbh is actually quite good and you can see that they tried to stay as loyal as possible but of course they did have to change some things to allow miss marple to get involved, I also much prefer these actors portrayal of the characters of Tommy and Tuppence, they seem much more like them in the books.
I did really like that episode of Miss Marple so I am glad that they didn't change the story too much, and I really liked Tommy and Tuppence in that adaptation as well. Have you tried the 80s adaptation of Partners in Crime? I want to wait and watch it until after I've read the books but each episode adapts one of the short stories from the Partners in Crime book and Francesca Annis played Tuppence (I forget who played Tommy because I hadn't seen the actor before). But you may like that one better.
ooo no I haven't but I will go and check it out now, thank you!!
+Lil's Vintage World oh and I forgot there is a tv movie first that is an adaptation of Secret Adversary and then the show goes into Partners in Crime. :)
Thanks for letting me know!!
Are you going to do a where to start on Sherlock Holmes??
I might do in the future although I haven't read too much Sherlock Holmes, I much prefer Poirot hehe
Secret Adversary is also my least favourite. I found the atmosphere of spies/espionage somewhat dated and very much of its time. The denouement (without spoilers!) seemed so ridiculous and out of synch with her other works, which, although far fetched, are about human psychology.
Pricking of my Thumbs by far the best.
I am so glad someone else feels the same way that I do :)
hmmmmm by the pricking of my thumbs was mediocre for me. not up to agatha's standards. postern of fate was one of the worst of her works, in my opinion. she was old, around or over 80, i think, when she was writing both of these, so perhaps she was not at the top of her game at that point...